5 Stories About People Living On Edge

[Music] [Applause] so it's the highest you've ever slept at almost a while when you don't have a fear of heights it's not really scary it's like being in the craziest free house that you can possibly imagine that's Marc's in it he's a professional rock climber and he's talking about sleeping in a tent they're called total edges that's hanging off the side of a mountain he's been climbing for over 30 years and his favorite walls to climb are really really high alpine big wall climbing is the pursuit of scaling the biggest cliffs on planet Earth oh yes they take a few days to summit so he has to camp out along the way so I want to know what does it feel like to sleep in a portaledge hanging off the side of a mountain the one thing that's more or less ever-present in the mountains is wind it can be pretty violent you can experience hurricane-force winds there's also this thing that we call the Bronco ride wind comes in hits a question it really has nowhere to go except for up eventually it hits you and your latch and it can lift the whole thing up so you can be suspended and then of course the ledge that slams into the wall you're just thinking about surviving and that wasn't the worst of it the smell in the ledges is not it's not nice you don't change your clothes you don't bathe it's wicked scummy but people love it they continue to climb and explore do all of this punishment because there's still that one question left how does it feel the way it makes you feel is like a tiny speck of dust very empowering it really is just like kind of the most spectacular spot that you could be on planet Earth [Music] [Music] the tigre region in northern ethiopia is known for its assembly of rock hewn churches [Music] sculpted out of sandstone the most wondrous of these is abouna Yamazaki [Music] there's only one way up you have to climb this cliff face welcome to the world's most perilous Church [Music] established in the fifth century the church is named after its founder and builder Father Yamada perched 650 feet above a steep cliff some say he chose its location to be closer to heavenly spirits others argue it was a strategic move to avoid his enemies either way the church's location ceiling frescoes and precious goatskin Bible have attracted worshipers for centuries the church has 20 clergymen and is managed by this high-ranking priests he has lived here for over 47 years and he makes the climb every day I know MA she would offer it as I said ie behind how do you say Christianity you know yeah a girl garlic - see what - yeah he didn't match their muscle guys mr. Gotti quaintest on what whoo yeah you could lose it in mousey yeah [Music] for fearless worshipers the two-hour track to the top begins by hiking to the bottom of the rock from the valley below visitors must first remove their shoes before climbing Misato medieval hollow for him oh come the Southfield Muslim the Harrigan ha ha Ozzy has the reversal noggin satellite Italian it was who are you Lucy Cillian and random aimless in which we learn and hundred of the final obstacle to the church's entrance can test the most ardent pilgrims faith a narrow cliff ledge with a deadly drop to the left and no room for error [Music] once through you may think you're in heaven but you've never felt more alive who the hell are you a Christian Z Z is a greedy Asiata Christianity they selling me yen then the next day I had highly citizen a you to Honolulu I was equating you I made a higher horn longer than the seniority [Music] while canyoneering is a brand-new sport it starts with an old-school leap of faith its participants hold their breath as they repel down seemingly bottomless canyons formed by centuries of wind and water through oncoming waterfalls around blind turns and dangling over cliffs the sports pioneers take on natural wonders the rest of us would never dare KITT Turner is one of those pioneers he and his team are about to enter Canada's box canyon for the first time a place that will make their knees quake I got started running canyons in Hawaii I started rock climbing and eventually made the progression into Canyon area then as my girlfriend she's a Hawaii girl born and raised we've been dating now for almost two years we went climbing kid always pushes me to go it's on me comfort level the line when you're talking about canyoneering the process of descending a canyon you have to decide how much rope you want to bring along you want to decide if the rock quality is gonna be good enough to set up anchors for the repels you also have to find a good crew that is good under pressure you're just dealing with lots of complexities of nature rocks waterfall it's just constant problem solving using your brain using your body canyons are very fickle and they're very weather dependent conditions in a canyon can change from one day to the next from one season to the next for this particular Canyon box canyon you have to across the Squamish river kayaking across the river it was an ordeal because you just really have to paddle your heart out just to cut across that current and then you have to make a sharp you turn into this little tiny beach front so once you cross the river there's a mosquito-infested hike into kind of the bottom of the box canyon stream and then you hike upstream for a while before you get to the technical part of the canyon which involves rope the first thought was is this man-made this is not real it looks like a Disneyland ride box canyon is considered a Class C Canyon most of the repels if not all the repels are going straight through the watercourse which is straight through the waterfall and you're you're getting pounded by the water it's hitting you in your face you're slipping you're sliding all over the place my favorite thing about dropping into a canyon is the rush of getting over the edge this is my passion man like I get more puffs come in a canyon it kind of adds that element of excitement where you can't see where you're gonna end up when you're on the edge as an adventurer when you feel like I could die doing this right now but I can't back down and then you do it it's like the most amazing feeling I don't get the people that are like why would you do that I'm just like why not if you don't get it you don't get it for someone who's looking at doing what we did which is dropping everything and pursuing their dreams I would say that it's definitely a leap of faith and maybe you crash and burn but the highs are incredible and you're never gonna get those amazing moments and see if you can really achieve your dreams if you don't try [Music] [Music] located in past onea Slovenia is a sturdy castle built into a natural cavern halfway up a four hundred foot cliff side pred yama castle was built in the 13th century in Gothic style architecture however after a siege in the 16th century the exterior was reconstructed and is what you see today but there's more to this castle than meets the eye beneath it blaze the post onea cave park the caves are accessible during May to September and closed in the winter so as not to disturb the hibernating local bats the castle has changed ownership throughout its history however the most famous inhabit are was Ezra Luger he was a 15th century Robin hood-like character who stole from the rich to give to the needy today the castling caves are open for the public to explore and learn more about its previous colorful owners [Music] [Applause] [Music] when you're looking at some platforms usually it's just water everywhere which makes you feel really really tiny jumping into this giant ocean I'm Rachelle Simpson and I'm a world champion cliff diver it's very similar to Olympic diving the only difference is at the end we're going to land on our feet as I climb up on the platform's easier the wind blowing your ears sometimes there's seagulls zooming around my head hear the announcer call my name it's kind of like I'm going into this hallway and this sounds totally cutting out because that's when I'm going into focus nice when I set my feet and then my arms go up I count to three and go your bodies on autopilot and your brain is just sitting back watching front somersault twist second somersault right position actually when you hit the water at first you don't notice anything and then it starts all coming back you create bubbles underneath the surface and you feel those bubbles pushing you back up to the surface credit cool feeling actually can we come up take a breath the air and the rush of adrenaline it's like you've been holding it off and not even breathing until you hit that water each time I enter the water it's another successful moment of convincing my brain to be something I'm scared of but each time I get a sense of empowerment when I overcome it I love it you [Applause]

Channel: Great Big Story

Views: 841,150

Rating: 4.9051623 out of 5

Keywords: great big story, gbs, lag, documentary, docs, cliffs, jump, high altitude, fall, edge, cliff, New Releases, Great Big Reels, Sports & Action, Lifestyle & Entertainment, lifestyle, entertainment

Id: KNWwAiXA1-8

Length: 13min 49sec (829 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 23 2019